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Sunday, August 7, 2011

Strong figures for Sarajevo

Passenger numbers increase across Bosnia and Herzegovina

Sarajevo Airport handled 81.042 passengers in July 2011, an increase of 12% compared to the same month last year. Driving the growth are larger capacity aircraft foreign carriers are sending, an increase in travel from the diaspora as well as visa free travel for Bosnian citizens to Schengen Zone countries, introduced in December last year. So far this year the airport handled 355.772 passengers and will comfortably surpass last year’s annual result of 563.266 passengers. Although the airport saw numbers slip in January compared to last year, business picked up from February with the airport enjoying 6 months of consecutive growth.

Other airports in Bosnia and Herzegovina also saw their figures improve, particularly Tuzla. Thanks to charters to Antalya and seasonal summer flights to Dubai, Tuzla Airport welcomed over 1.000 passengers in July. Similarly, Mostar, which has been enjoying a flurry of charters this summer, saw over 5.000 passengers pass through its doors. However, there is trouble at Banja Luka Airport which is seeing its numbers decrease as summer progresses. The airport handled just over 500 passengers, putting it in last position for the month amongst Bosnia’s international airports for the first time in several years.

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LIVERY OF THE WEEK

Cyprus Airways

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Cyprus Airways has taken delivery of its first Airbus A319 aircraft since Charlie Airlines won the right to work under the Cyprus name in July 2016. The carrier's corporate design elements were created by the British agency Landor. The pastel shades were chosen for the livery to replicate the various colours of the Mediterranean Sea surrounding the island. The olive branch, the main symbol of Cyprus that can also be found on the national flag of the republic, is depicted on the tail unit and engine nacelles of the plane. The former mouflon logo used by Cyprus Airways is still featured on the aircraft, next to the plane's front exit

GLOBAL AVIATION NEWS

No survivors in PIA crash

All 48 people onboard a Pakistan International Airlines plane were killed when it crashed into a mountain in northern Pakistan on Wednesday. Flight PK661 from Chitral to Islamabad crashed at 16:42 (4.42pm) local time about 70km north of Islamabad. The airline said there were no survivors. The plane, an ATR 42-500, was carrying 42 passengers, five crew members and one engineer, according to the airline. Forty-five were Pakistani citizens, two were Austrians and one Chinese. A Pakistani ex-pop star, turned Muslim preacher, Junaid Jamshed and Deputy Commissioner for Chitral District Osama Ahmed Warraich were reported to be on the flight. Very few of the bodies could be identified visually, with most burned beyond recognition, officials said. Recovery efforts continued into the night to remove body parts. A government official said that witness reports indicated that the aircraft was on fire before it hit the ground. Other reports suggested the ATR had suffered engine problems immediately prior to the crash. An investigation is ongoing, but the carrier has insisted strict checks left "no room for any technical error". "I want to make it clear that it was a perfectly sound aircraft", PIA Chairman, Muhammad Azam Saigol, said. "I think there was no technical error or human error". Plane crashes are not uncommon in Pakistan, but the last major crash involving a PIA aircraft was in 2006, in which 44 people died.